Wine for any Easter dinner

Common sense offers a few basics to keep in mind with food pairings

Easter arrives Sunday and for many families it is an occasion to gather the clan in a social setting for an afternoon or evening of food and wine. With the two big turkey holidays (Thanksgiving and Christmas) behind us the question is, will it be ham, lamb, pork or fish and which wines should you be thinking about serving with the main course?

There is constant clatter in the wine business about pairing food and wine. Many would suggest it unnecessary and that consumers should eat and drink what they like. I couldn’t agree more, but if you are interested in a heightened experience it’s still worth following a few basics. There may not be any hard and fast pairing rules, but common sense and years of experience have taught me to believe some wines react better to certain foods than others.

One of Easter’s problematic matches is that handsomely glazed ham awash in sugar (pineapple) and salt. Both ingredients tend to bring out the bitterness and tannins in wine. The pairing is not insurmountable as long as you think about fruity, lighter structured reds with supple tannins. In this case the Tempranillo or Garnacha grape from Spain (Grenache from France) should do the job. For white wines non-wooded or lightly wooded Pinot Grigio (or Gris) would be equally acceptable, and there are plenty of local choices that will fit the bill.

Lamb, as in a roasted leg of lamb, allows for lots of manoeuvring room with red wine but the classic match is Syrah or Shiraz. All those big, minty, gamy, lamb flavours call for an equally intense red to tame them and you get that with Shiraz/Syrah. You can look to many areas for a label to match such as Chile. South Africa, France or, again, closer to home with many possibilities coming out the Okanagan Valley.

The delicate flavour of pork makes it an ideal candidate for citrus-based marinades and you can choose red or white wine for the match. The Blancs, Sauvignon or Chenin, are no-brainers as are most rosés and if you are using oranges as part of the recipe think Viognier.

All that leaves is the salmon. B.C.’s signature fish, which is always a welcomed sight at most meals. We have come to expect it can be prepared in a number of ways. In its simplest form the pre-meal smoked salmon (and cream cheese) can be a delight to share with your dinner guests. In this case I’m sticking to a young gulp-able Riesling to accompany the smoky, oily opulent notes of the dish. Think Germany, the Mosel Valley, or the Okanagan Valley.

If salmon is the main course you may want to consider the classic B.C. presentation: cedarplanked salmon. In this case the dense ‘meaty’ oily fish with its smoky flavours can play host to a trio of pinots blanc, noir and gris. You might consider serving all three to see which you or your guests prefer.

My Pinot Blanc would come from Alsace or the Okanagan and be rich in minerality and freshness to counterbalance the oil in the salmon and lift it off the plate. Pinot Gris will act similarly — your choices here are northern Italy, Argentina (high altitude) or the mineral skinny lean Okanagan Valley-style.

That leaves Pinot Noir, a grape whose quality is rising daily worldwide, making it the current go to red for many drinkers. Burgundy, Chile, California, New Zealand and the Okanagan all are good choices and provide prices for all budgets. The soft, earthy, juicy black cherry fruit is magic with salmon. Happy Easter.